COFFEE COUNTY, TN - An Air Force Contractor at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tennessee is under a federal investigation for allegedly stealing military communications equipment. He is also accused of accessing state and federal networks from home, according to the Air Force Times.
Meanwhile, in Manchester, Tennessee, the Coffee County District Attorney’s Office has issued a media release outlining an unrelated investigation surrounding the same man who’s the target of that federal investigation. 48-Year-old Brent DeSalvo stands accused of making inappropriate advances toward a minor.
The investigation into DeSalvo evidently started in 2022, after the Manchester Police Department received a complaint regarding the subject who was accused of Inappropriate Sexual Advances Towards a Minor. The advances were allegedly made by DeSalvo.
Eventually, the investigation resulted in a Coffee County Grand Jury indictment, charging DeSalvo with Solicitation of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor and Assault by Offensive Touching. That indictment landed DeSalvo in the middle of a March indictment earlier this year.
After the suspect was arrested this past March, he was booked under a $15-thousand bond. The day after DeSalvo’s arrest, he made bond and was released from the Coffee County Jail. The District Attorney’s office then requested additional bond conditions, including not having any contact with the victim in this case or coming near her. The additional conditions were granted by a Judge on April 5th, the same day DeSalvo was scheduled to appear in court. During that court date, DeSalvo’s attorney entered a not guilty plea for his attorney.
A plea discussion date has been set for August 23, 2023. Solicitation of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor is a Class E felony and Assault by Offensive Touching is a Class B misdemeanor.
In the federal investigation, DeSalvo became the centerpiece of a federal probe for his alleged involvement in a compromise of communication networks used by Air Force training units at almost 20-bases. Evidence from the investigation was filed in the U.S. District Court.
Over 30 hard drives, thumb drives, memory cards, 8 computers, and 2 cellphones were seized by investigators. Some of the devices were believed to have contained software used by Arnold Air Force Base security forces, as well as the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network and the statewide radio program used by first responders.
Blueprints of buildings at the Tullahoma Air Force Base were located along with digital files that had passwords for the radio network at San Antonio’s Lackland base.
National security issues from DeSalvo’s conduct are still being investigated. However, the Coffee County District Attorney’s Office reported, “Based upon the information learned through this investigation, an arrest warrant was obtained for Theft of Property on January 28, 2023.” The General Sessions Court set a $175,000 bond on this matter. His bond was then reduced to $40,000 on February 2, 2023, and DeSalvo posted a bond to secure his pretrial release on February 6, 2023.
Again, his next court date in Coffee County has been set for August 23, 2023.
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